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Intensive
Program
What
is…
Two-Week Intensive Daily Speech Therapy?
This popular therapy program
has been offered in
Maryland
since 1990, and in
South Carolina since early 2005 . It
consists of individual
sessions at a scheduled time (similar to most other
speech-language therapy). What is unique about this
program is that the therapy is five days per week for two
weeks. Sessions
are usually 30 minutes in length.
It is an ideal method of treatment for clients
with complex articulation/oral motor/motor speech
planning disorders.
Because sessions are daily,
progress is faster, with no backtracking. Children like
it because they know what to expect, they see and feel the progress, and therapy is short-term. This
approach serves to "jump start" therapy, or to
help a child break out of a plateau in progress.
Remarkably, there have been some children whose
problems were completely corrected within the two weeks!
Children already in therapy with another speech-language
pathologist can benefit from two weeks of intensive
work, and can then resume therapy with their regular
speech-language pathologist.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What
types of problems are appropriate for this program?
Articulation disorders;
apraxia/dyspraxia; dysarthria;
"lisp";
"distortion of 'r' sound", with or
without "oral motor" difficulties. This program is directed toward treatment of
children ages 5
to 15 years who have a difficulty or disorder of speech,
and will not address difficulties in the area of language
or reading.
Where is
this program offered?
Bethesda,
Maryland
and
Beaufort,
South Carolina
When is this
program being offered?
In
Bethesda,
Maryland :
June 2009, Dates available after January 1, 2009
In
Beaufort,
South Carolina
: call
843-521-0847 for
information
How
do I register?
Registration forms can be obtained by calling
843-521-0847 or clicking on the form below.
The form is available in PDF document format.
Reservations are made only upon receipt of an
application and deposit check.
2008 Intensive Registration Form (pdf)
How will
appointments be scheduled?
Parent will choose a regular
appointment time for that two-week period.
Therapy runs ON TIME, so you will be able to meet
other after-school commitments.
Who is the
therapist?
Donna Ridley, M.Ed., CCC, relocated in
2004 with
her husband, to Beaufort from the
Washington
DC
area where she was in private practice for over 20 years.
In addition to a broad range of pediatric
experience, she
developed this unique
and extraordinarily successful program of short-term,
intensive speech therapy .
This program was so successful that it consistently had a waiting list
during the past
ten years in
Maryland.
She returns
to Maryland
periodically to offer this program.
Many
of her competitors (other speech-language pathologists)
refer children to her because of her expertise.
Because she has remarkable success treating distortion of /r/, a
particularly difficult error, she is known as "The R
Czar".
Can I sign
up for any two-week period?
No,
this program is only being offered a
few times a year.
Call for dates of the next program in
Maryland
or South Carolina
.
What is the
fee, and will insurance cover this?
The fee is different in those two
cities, to reflect differing cost of living.
Please call to inquire.
With regard to insurance coverage: some
insurers may cover.
You must check and file with your
insurer yourself, and seek reimbursement from your
insurer.
What is
Included in the fee?
Ten individual
therapy sessions, 30 minutes each, for a period of two
weeks. A
written statement of goals is developed at or before the
first session.
Program includes written practice material,
parent observation/participation, detailed report at end
of program. That
report details specific and successful therapy
approaches which can be used by another speech-language
pathologist, should
your child need continued therapy
beyond the two weeks.
Will my
child's current speech-language pathologist (SLP)
be upset if I "switch" to you for two
weeks?
That
has not been the case, and in fact, the opposite
is usually true.
SLPs usually welcome input from a fellow-SLP, and
they are only 'giving up' their client for two weeks!
When your child returns to his regular SLP, he'll
go back with definite progress, and lots of new ideas .
And, if he doesn't need any more therapy, that
is, if the problem is truly cured during the two weeks,
most SLPs are thrilled, as they usually have more than
enough clients. They
are happy to see their clients 'graduate'!
Will you
talk with my child's current SLP after the two weeks?
Of course. The goal is to do what is necessary to
continue your child's progress.
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